Notes / Commercial Description:
HERCULES DOUBLE IPA is not for the faint of heart. It is, however, fit for the gods. HERCULES delivers a huge amount of hops from start to finish. Its hefty backbone of nutty, malty sweetness balances its aggressive hop profile. 85 IBUs.

This IPA had a lot of particles floating around in it, giving it an odd, off-putting appearance. Poured a nice head though. It had a sweet, pleasant smell. The taste was a bit much. The hops overwhelmed it, making it overly tart and leaving a bitter aftertaste. It did have a good, highly carbonated mouthfeel, though. If you like IPA's, this might be the beer for you. I thought the taste was a bit much. Nonetheless, not a bad brew.

Pours a hazy golden to copper, with massive carbonation and a fluffy head that falls quickly to nice lacing. There appear to be chunks of yeast floating in the beer, even in the first of two pours from a 22 oz bottle.

Bottled on Feb. 9, 2011.. very fresh! 12oz bottle poured into a standard pint glass. Pours a burnt golden, pushing being orange; completely transparent. Not the biggest head, but great lacing. I'm picking up lots of pine mixed with some citrus, specifically grapefruit. Tastes extremely bitter, slightly sweet. Lots of pine and resin in the mix; sticky. Pretty malty with hints of caramel giving it some sweetness.. but like I mentioned, extremely bitter. Mouthfeel is nice.. it started off fizzy, but became more smooth as you get more into it; full-bodied. Drinkablity is average, alcohol is noticeable, finishes warm and sticky. This is a huge beer.

This beer could be really great, IMO, but it's completely unbalanced. I understand the DIPA style is based on not being balanced.. but I wasn't feeling this one, and I really wanted to. I'm a huge fan of Great Divide, so I feel a tad let down. It's worthy though. I completely understand why so many people like this beer.

A: Pours to a hazy amber color with a decent, off-white head and a good amount of lacing.

S: Citrus sweetness and malt hits you first, then some hops (I was expecting a stronger hops aroma.) with a hint of the alcohol. I'm also detecting some honey & vanilla.

T: The hops that I had been expecting in the smell are definitely in the taste. As the initial burst of hops fades, you get the sweetness. When the sweetness fades, the hops bitterness comes back for the after-taste, which I was expecting. A complex combo of tastes, but it doesn't seem as balanced as most to me.

M: Crisp with a medium-to-heavy body. Finishes dry for the most part, but leaves a bit of an oily residue, which is a bit different from and not as sticky as the syrupy feel that you can get from some sweeter beers.

D: It's not very filling, so it's something you can go with, especially since there isn't much hint of the alcohol other than a small amount in the smell. However, if I'm going to drink a lot of something, personally I'd rather drink something else, even within the style. I can appreciate the complexity. I can appreciate the hoppiness although this wasn't one of my favorite 2IPA’s.

Hercules is a malty bastard, pouring out a fairly dark color for a Double IPA. Deep amber and fairly hazed, it gives a thick feeling and seems much more of an Amber ale or Barleywine than its supposed style. Head has the typical thickness and stickiness of an ale with this much hops, leaving fair lace down any sort of vessel.

Smell is incredibly sweet as the caramel and rose tinted malts wash over the fruity scents. All told, I get a sense of scents like apples, melon, ruby red grapefruit, and spare shots of more a typically hop-made musty bushiness. Well done for sure, and far from deficient, but the hops are struggling to meet and play nicely with the over-abundant malts. They're like a beautiful painting covering an even more beautiful outdoor view. Shame.

Same story with the flavor, as the same fruity flavors described above roll through. What apparent bitterness is present gets tempered by the lush malts, though I'd say the drying and rough hop patterns are still strong. Alcohol is masked to a great degree, though potent as always for a big IPA. For each bomber I walk away with an over-bearing sense of caramel smothering the finer sides of American high-alpha hops. Where is the tropical and aromatic lupulin juice?

This beer is a great piece of brewing, and firmly drinkable. Finishing a bottle is no problem whatsoever, but in stacking it up to other great Double IPA's its a bit off. Though its easy to find I'd hesitate from calling this a top-shelf beer for the style. But oh well, they're available, well-priced, and easy enough to enjoy. Are my bottles a little old and thus lacking some punch - is that what's up?

A- Pours an orange and amber red, with a nice medium head that dwindles inot a nice white lace present thrhoughout. No carbonation activity present after pour.

S- Smell of hops and citus. A clean combination. After thoughts of alcohol and pine.

T- This beer delivers with the hop flavors. Nice counterpunch to the alcohol that resonates from the mouthfeel.

Got this in a trade with thehand and even though Great Divide offers other selections in my area this is not one of them. I liked this alot, it had a good hop and malt flavor that finished smooth. Strong presence but not overwhelming. I hope that this is soon offered in my neck of the woods because I would like to have this brew again.

a very nice beer. Less of an IPA than a double due to the inherent sweetness and high alcohol. Those of us who are looking for the refreshing hoppy bitterness of an IPA will not be satisfied, however, for a particular evening this beer offers a nice compromise of sweet double combined with a robust IPA undertone, although at 10% ABV you won't be drinking a lot of it.

First off, I don't know if this is a common trait in this beer, but mine had quite large chunks of yeast in it, not something I've seen very often. I didn't factor it in

A: Pours a beautiful clear copper/amber, had the aforementioned yeast chunks in it, small ring of bubbles that stuck around the whole glass. Some lacing, not a ton, but not totally absent. Decent, I guess for the style.

S: Caramel malt, right off the bat. First thing I noticed, and it stuck around the aroma. Piney hops and a little fruit, but not as pronounced as in some DIPA's I've had. The caramel sweetness is really, really noticeable. Wow, I hope the taste is nothing like the smell.

T: Some of the caramel malt, but nowhere near as much as in the smell. Bittering hops are very noticeable, but not overly bitter, if that makes sense. Fruity hops from the aroma don't carry over. Piney, resinous hop dominates the flavor, overall. Malt is close. Good flavors though.

M: Oily, slick, lighter than some of the same style that I've had. Not particularly special, but not horrible.

D: Decent for the style. Not the best DIPA I've had, but not bad. I can bet that having this on tap is the desired serving type. This one just seemed it was possibly an older bottle.

For what it is, this is a decent beer. I wouldn't hate on it, but if the other DIPA's I've had are fresh versus this one (read: Hopslam, Lake Erie Monster, Double Trouble, etc), I will take those over this one. Not bad though.

S - Strong citrus hop aroma, mostly grapefruit with some pine. Sweet malt and some caramel to back it up.

T - Big grapefruit hop flavor and some spicy notes of cinnamon and allspice with big malt sweetness in the middle. Substantial bitterness in the finish, but not quite enough to balance the huge malt character.

M - Thick, syrupy body, medium carbonation, and a sweet finish.

D - A strong and very sweet DIPA. The hop character is nice, but not complex and the malt is dominant is a way that becomes cloying after a while. Maybe I would like this better if it was billed as a barleywine, but as a DIPA it just doesn't have a vibrant enough hop character.

Beer is a clear burnished copper color, very deep and rich color. Plenty of active carbonation. Head is thick, luxurious, cream colored and quite sticky. A winner in the glass.

Aromas are a bit wanting, however. Almost nothing but a faint whiff of pine.

At first sip, the flavor seems brutally skewed towards hops. Resiny, piny hops with a middling bitterness. After a few sips, the caramel flavor of the malt begins to peek through and provides some welcome balance. Traces of citrus in the hops as well, but hardly a major flavor component.

Mouthfeel is somewhat dry which does not quite cut the oily feeling left behind after each sip.

Overall, while this doesn't bring anything new to the DIPA table, it is utterly a joy to drink. And at 10% ABV, one must watch one's intake!

Brown bomber with 85 IBUs listed, no abv or date.
Aroma: What a surprise: hoppy. Ok, Strong Pine and Grapefruit hop smells with only the slightest hint of underlying sweet malt.
Appearance: Hazy orange with yellow edges. Moderate carbonation feeds a rather thin off white head that left a slight ring when it rapidly collapsed. For such a small head, it laced impressively leaving solid tide marks.
Flavor: Full on hop assault, strongly bitter with little restraint provided from the malt. There are some oak characteristics, a sweet middle and a lingering wisp of cotton candy but the hops burn it all away. The alcohol is noted in the aftertaste.
Mouthfeel: Heavy body, syrupy almost, had to draw a sample away from the glass with a strong pull. It left an oil layer in my mouth, throat, and esophagus.
Overall Impression: Im not amused. Ok, it is a double IPA, it SHOULD be too hoppy, and it is, but it seems that is all there is. The malt base is just too shallow leaving this without much complexity. The alcohol is also rather hot.
Not surprisingly, as the beer warmed, so did I, and my opinion of this brute mellowed some. The malt started to come out a bit more, and Im guessing my taste buds gave up screaming its way to hoppy!!! and decided to just enjoy the ride. The mouthfeel also seemed to lighten a bit, but I still find the alcohol too hot.
Looking for a subtle and complex palate soother? Keep moving; nothing to see here.
Need a 200cc hop injection, stat? This is your beer.

Pours dark amber with a very thin off white head which disappears quickly, leaving no lacing. The aroma has Grapefruit, citrus zest, pine, and caramel malt.

Tastes sweeter than I expected, with some light bitterness for balance. Has grapefruit, pine, pineapple, and caramel malt. Makes for a nicely balanced beer.

Medium to full bodied with very low carbonation, and a sweet aftertaste. Leaves a bit if a sticky feling in the mouth. The alcohol is well disguised for a 10.00 % abv beer. I would have scored this higher, had there been proper carbonation.

Pours an overcast orange with a meaty head that dwindles to an off-white swirl of melted ice milk. The glass is held together by pretty white lace that clings in all the right places.

Aroma is dirty C-hops rich with malt. You've definitely got your grapefruit citrus in the house, but the piney hops are more cone than needles.

Lots of slick acidic Lupulin. More malt presence than most American DIPAs.

Mouthfeel is cream-filled. Full and feathery soft fades to a slow acidic Humulene chemical burn.

This brew takes an interesting approach to the DIPA style shooting for a very active nutty maltiness in the forefront to bring equilibrium to the loaded hops. The result however I think emphasizes the somewhat unpleasant oil-like burn brought by DIPA level hop rate. By choosing to not showcase the hop aroma and flavor as prominently as others this beer has taken away from itself an important component that makes heavy-hitting IPAs so enjoyable.

Generally I'm a huge fan of their big brews but this was just an average Double IPA, not my favorite.

Pours a pale copper with a small creamy persistent head. Fair bit of almost transparent yeast clumps floating all over the place, apparently Great Divide's yeast doesn't flocculate well. Amazingly thick lacing though.
Aroma shows lots of malt for an IIPA, loads of caramel, molasses, golden syrup and nutty notes. Hops are still there in the background however, with resinous and piney notes being most prevalent.
Flavours reflect the aroma: fairly malty with a lot of golden syrup and some nutty notes, before resinous hops take over, followed by an extremely piney, mildly bitter finish contributed to by some clean alcohol
Quite a rich body with creamy carbonation that doesn't manage to cut through the sweetness.
The malt levels in this are off the scale. Really lacking in hops aroma and to a lesser extent flavour. None the less, quite enjoyable, though too rich to have more than a couple.

Taste: Malty. Not as hoppy has I would have hoped. I would have liked to have a hop bomb and expected one having tried the Titan IPA from this brewery. Sweet maltiness way overpowers the hops. Probably some light to medium crystal in here as well.

A: If you'd told me this was a DIPA, I'd have called you a liar. It is one of the darkest and murkiest DIPA's I've ever seen. Amber/red hues with unfiltered dregs really looks like something I'd find in a barleywine. Regardless, it does come out swinging, as the head is thick and tall, a good 1.5 fingers. Intense lacing remains as the head slowly falls.

S: There's no hiding the alcohol here - it's up front and all around. I do get a mild hint of hops, but the alcohol comes roaring back and sqashes the humulus lupulus like a gnat making friends with a rolled up newspaper.

T: Have I introduced you to Senor Alcohol? This one is hot, but I like it. Given a second in my mouth, the traditional profile cornerstones do pop out: faint citrus, hoppy bitterness and a suprisingly rich maltiness (which I wasn't expecting).

M: A massivly big and heavy DIPA. It really comes off with a lot more oomph then I would have expected. It's like they took "Lawrence of Arabia" and crammed it into beer form - just huge and epic.

O: Not what I was expecting. I think I dug it, but I'm still kind of in awe. Great Divide really put it all on the table with this one, and for that I give them credit. But for my day to day drinking, I don't know how often this one will be chilling in my fridge.

Taste: surprisingly (for me) smooth and creamy, sweet malt, toffee, biscuit and a lot of american hops - grape, apples, resin, grass. Some salt as well, and very bitter. I like it, especially the balance between smooth sweet malt and heavy, bitter hops. However, I did detect some alcohol, and the hops are not as rich in flavours as, I believe, Rouges IIPA. Or perhaps its the bitterness that dominates too much. Or - perhaps its just me not fully appreciating this style.